This invention relates to ultrasound imaging systems, and in particular to improved methods for imaging nonlinear contrast agents with such systems.
Nonlinear contrast agents are described for example by V. Uhlendorf, et al., in "Nonlinear Acoustical Response of Coated Microbubbles in Diagnostic Ultrasound" (1995 Ultrasonic Symposium, pp.1559-1562). Such agents possess a fundamental resonant frequency. When they are insonified with high intensity ultrasonic energy at this fundamental frequency, they radiate ultrasonic frequency at a harmonic of the fundamental frequency. Such contrast agents are often used to highlight regions containing blood loaded with the contrast agent. For example, in the case of a blood-filled chamber of the heart, the borders of the chamber can be distinguished more easily when contrast agent is used. Since the contrast agent generates harmonic ultrasound energy, echoes from tissue (containing no contrast agent) at the fundamental frequency may be eliminated by filtering at the receive beamformer.
Typically, such agents are used with an imaging system having a transmit beamformer that transmits ultrasonic energy at the fundamental frequency and a receive beamformer responsive to the harmonic. In order to image the contrast agent clearly, it is known to reduce energy at the harmonic in the transmit beam, and to reduce sensitivity of the receive beamformer to energy at the fundamental.
In the past, this has been done by using a burst of square or sine waves to form the transmit beam, and by using appropriate band pass or high pass filters in the receive beamformer. Though a large pulse count reduces energy at the harmonic, it reduces time resolution of the pulse, and therefore spatial resolution of the resulting image.
The present invention is directed to further improvements that enhance the imaging of such nonlinear contrast agents.